Choosing to use a particular raw processor with a particular default look is in fact an active processing choice. It's one of the most boring choices one can make (in my opinion) but it is a choice. Similarly when you process a given film in a given chemistry option with a particular dev time and agitation level you are actively choosing to do so.
In my opinion accepting the default values of a particular raw processor isn't "avoiding post processing" - it's simply (actively) accepting a very bland default post-processing of the image. Worse, the variation in "default" raw processor settings is much less than the variation of film emulsions. Which means if you refuse to "post process" by adjusting away from defaults you are essentially limiting yourself to exactly one "DRP emulsion" (Default Raw Processing Emulsions - just made that up).
In the days of film it was universally accepted advice that a developing photographer should play around with a variety of film emulsions to determine which one provided the look/feel/response that they felt suited their style best. Similarly in the digital age I think it's important for photographers to experiment around with and develop their own repertoire of "styles" of post processing. You can base them directly off old films. You can base them off fusions of looks you've seen from photographers you respect. You can base them off a book or an article you read (e.g. our
Capture One Styles).
Once you've developed a few styles that suit you I think in general it's good to work largely inside that set of styles as it alleviates a lot of tension and anxiety caused by having infinite directions every image can go, and also because it helps you develop a consistent and cohesive body of work. Most great photographers that I respect/admire experimented with different films and development styles, but most also stuck largely to a few favorites which became part of the allure of their work.
I should point out that while I believe the above is solid advice that I've found in the last two years I'm doing a pretty poor job adhering to it. Though I have a pretty good excuse in that my job here at Capture Integration is always exposing me to drastically different kinds of cameras, shooting styles, subject matters, techniques, and processing methodologies. I've also taken the lead on developing the
Capture Integration Capture One Styles Pack. So isolating a personal set of styles in this "noise" has been hard. As a result as I review my last dozen weddings I find that while each wedding is cohesive to itself the weddings don't mesh with each other very well making it hard to present a collection of my favorite images.
One area I have found personal consistency is in my
bodyscape series where a few numerical presets and a good sense for what I want to accomplish at a technical level has led to enough consistency that I feel okay presenting almost any subset of that collection. This series would be utterly without interest to me if I had developed them with default raw processor settings (in addition to converting to black and white there are several non-default settings I hold as important to the look/feel/consistency of the images).
Doug Peterson
(e-mail Me)
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